The Shift
by jalyn712
Summary: Cute little one-shot in which they are officially a couple. As it should have been!


_I've been sorting through stories that I had started at one time or another...more than I'd even remembered...and found the following little gem. A bit of tweaking, and here we have it._

 _Per the norm, not my characters. Just using them for a few new tales._

 _I like this one. Hope you enjoy it, too. :)_

/\/\|-|

Their relationship gradually became something more, and not even she could claim that they were "just friends," any longer.

Up until a few months ago, she would have sworn in a court of law that they would only ever be friends. But, they were becoming a couple – the kind that may very well still be together in their senior years. It boggled her mind when she stopped to think about it. Though, in a good way.

This was something she had wanted for a long time, but she'd had a wake-up call at one point and had had to accept the fact that they were going to be lifelong _friends_. She had gone through the hurt, rallied back, and moved on with her life. She'd intended to meet a good man and settle down, have a family of her own.

She'd even started living without the lingering attachment to Houston, when suddenly, things shifted. Almost as if someone had ordered a plot twist, he subtly but surely began pursuing her. His actions weren't necessarily bold nor over-the-top, but she couldn't question that he'd changed.

As time went on, she discovered him to be respectful, kind, caring, and one of the most attentive men that she had ever dated. That was saying something because Carl had been a great love, and she would have considered herself lucky to find a someone with half of his good qualities. She still missed him dearly, but her relationship with Houston was becoming just as special to her.

They were currently driving north on the PCH, heading to a favored restaurant in Santa Barbara, when she let out a little laugh. She was remembering the day that she had started to catch on that things were different between them. Looking back, now, she couldn't help her mirth.

/\/\|-|

 _He'd been at her house, having driven her home to give her a reprieve after a hellacious day at the office. She was hurrying to get ready for their business dinner with potential clients and was so frazzled that she couldn't think straight. Her mind was scattered, as she ran the length of the hallway toward her living room - clad only in a satin bra and matching bikini underwear - holding up a choice of two cocktail dresses._

 _"Which one?" she called to him, making him look up from a magazine that he'd been reading._

 _She saw his Adam's apple bob and barely puzzled over it. After all, he'd seen her in skimpier bikinis over the years._

 _"Well?" she prompted, when he hadn't answered. "Navy or black?" she asked as she shifted one dress, then the other, in front of her body._

 _"Um...I think you'll look great in either, but I prefer the black one."_

 _He prefers? Huh...but she quickly said 'thanks' and turned back to her bedroom to finish dressing. She could have sworn she heard a groan, as she turned and hustled away, but shrugged it off._

 _In the last minute that she was finishing up, she heard Houston pad towards her bedroom. He called out a warning, "Are you decent?"_

 _She chuckled and said yes, as she was putting in her last earring._

 _He appeared in the doorway with his hands in his pockets and smiled when he saw her. "You look beautiful."_

 _She turned, smiling. "Thank you." She reached for her purse, which was laying on the dresser, and said, "Thank you, too, for being patient. I tried to hurry," she said while walking towards him._

 _Instead of moving to allow her to pass, he stayed rooted and said, "I wouldn't rush you, CJ."_

 _Not quite certain what to make of this, she opted to brush it aside and said, "Aren't you the gentleman, this evening? Thanks." She gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek in appreciation. He smiled briefly, then moved aside for her to pass._

 _"What time are we supposed to meet the Rosens?" she asked. "Are we going to be on time?" she worried._

 _"About that..." he started._

 _She turned to look at him with a brow raised. She had the distinct feeling that she'd gone to the trouble of changing for nothing, and he'd sought her out to tell her so. "Are we not meeting them, now? Did they cancel?"_

 _"No, we are not meeting them, but I still want to take you to dinner. We do have reservations, after all."_

 _"Hmm," she pretended to ponder, "I think I could stand to be in your company a little longer." She winked to let him know that she was teasing._

 _"You say the sweetest things, Ms. Parsons," he replied, as they headed out the front door._

 _She laughed, while he made certain that the door was locked behind them._

 _As the night progressed, it hit her that their relationship was really changing. It wasn't overly blatant, but she couldn't ignore that he was paying attention to her like a new beau might – one who was interested in everything about her. It was a bit disconcerting because he'd never been this way with her before, but they talked more than they had in a long time and discovered new things about each other._

 _He asked personal questions, and she answered willingly - then asked him a few of her own questions, which he answered fully. There was a new level of intimacy they'd never experienced together and a level of comfort that hadn't existed in a long time._

 _When he took her home, he escorted her inside but didn't stay. He did, however, kiss her with a reverence that left her speechless, before he bid her goodnight._

 _She went to bed feeling elated and excited about the future._

 _/\/\|-|_

Matt heard her laugh and asked, "What's so funny?" When she didn't immediately answer, he prompted, "CJ?"

That seemed to do the trick. "I'm sorry. What?" she asked, smiling.

"I asked what was so funny."

"Oh," she snickered. "I was thinking about the night we went to dinner, after the Rosens canceled. Specifically, when I came out and asked you which dress I should wear."

He snorted. "You mean the time I nearly got to second base without even touching you?"

"Houston!" she fairly hooted, "you'd seen me in bikinis plenty of times, so I didn't think it was a big deal! How was I to know that you were finally attracted to me?"

He glanced at her, making eye contact, before setting his eyes back on the road. "I was _always_ physically attracted to you. You're a gorgeous woman. How could I not be turned on by seeing you clad only in skimpy satin underwear?" A sudden thought occurred to him, "You haven't done that very often, have you?"

"What?"

"Come out in lingerie to ask your dates which dress you should wear."

She huffed and hit him in the arm. "You are such a man. _No_ , I have never done that before, but 1) you are my best friend...and, I reiterate, _one who has seen me in a number of bikinis over the years_. Might I also add that I stayed mostly covered by the choice of dresses I held in front of me. And, 2)...and this can't be overstated for the time...there's the fact that we were _only_ friends. How was I to know what was going through that head of yours? Besides, you didn't even tell me that the Rosens were a fictitious couple," she tossed at him and waited for his reaction.

He jerked a glance her way. He'd never told her that their potential clients who had supposedly canceled had never even existed. "How did you know?"

"I'm a woman, Houston. I have my ways," she said, cheekily. "Honestly, your choice of phrasing about how we weren't meeting them - but you wanted to take me out - made me think something was up. You completely skipped answering whether they'd canceled or not. And, by the end of the night, I knew." She gave him an indulging smile.

"And, you never called me on it?"

"I just did."

He sat quietly for a few seconds. "Why now?"

"Because you were criticizing me for coming out in my underwear. At the time, I thought it was harmless, especially in my frazzled and hurried frame of mind. In a way, you did it to yourself," she joked. "There weren't even clients."

"No, but we did have reservations," he said smugly.

She harrumphed.

"And, I'm hardly criticizing the fact that you were parading your body before me. If I could've spoken clearly, at the time, I might have thanked you."

She roared with laughter. "Lord... You're incorrigible."

He took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissed it, and added, "And, in love."

Every time she heard him say it, she warmed in places that she hadn't known existed until him. "That makes two of us," she said with a smile.

"Lucky guy."

"Yes, he is," she said, "because I am quite the catch."

He chuckled. "I don't disagree. Quite intelligent. Quite loving. Quite beautiful. And," he added, "quite _mine_." He gently squeezed her hand for a bit of emphasis.

"Possessive much?" she kidded.

"When it comes to you? Yep." He didn't even have the decency to look abashed.

It was her turn to chuckle good-naturedly. Still not taking his eyes off the road nor releasing her hand, he smiled when he heard her laugh.

A thought occurred to him, and he frowned a bit.

She caught it and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, really. I was just thinking about how I missed out on an opportunity."

"Oh? Have I missed something in Development? I thought our current projects were progressing nicely..."

"They are. I'm not talking about the office, CJ."

The smirk he wore told her that she was going to be on the receiving end of something devilish.

"Okay. Out with it." She was already amused, and he hadn't even told her what he was thinking.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how - if I'd been thinking straight - I could have played that whole ' _which dress, Houston?_ ' scene out a lot longer. I should have been more indecisive and had you flit back-and-forth between them a few more times. Maybe even go back to your closet and grab a couple more choices." He was laughing at himself, now.

"Houston!" She was laughing pretty hard, too. "You're such turkey. Geez."

"Ah, but I'm your turkey. And, as long as I'm the only man you're parading for, we're going to live happily-ever-after."

Instead of being incensed, because she knew he was messing with her (even if a part of him did mean it literally), she continued to laugh.

By far, this relationship was the most amusing, most fun, and most comfortable she'd ever been lucky enough to be a part of.

They made it to the restaurant, and he came around to help her out of the car. He didn't need to, but his heart was so full that he could never help himself from doing nice things for her and showing her little courtesies. He wanted her to know that she was the most important thing in the world to him. He needed her to know how much he loved her - all day, every day.

When she took his hand, she didn't let go. In fact, neither of them ever let go, again.


End file.
